Just outside the city where Hannah lived, and where Lug went sometimes.

There was a circus.

A large tent with white and red lines stood on a vacant lot near the main road of the city.

The wind was blowing this large PVC tent, slightly damaged and dirty.

If you ventured to the back, you could find cages holding dangerous animals.

Caravans in which artists and travelers lived.

And long wooden tables, in the center, used for convivial moments.

No two caravans were alike, one red, one rusty, another covered with newspaper.

Garlands of all colors were attached between them.

Unicycles, juggling pins, hoops and costumes could be seen left and right.

The people who lived there all had unique styles.

They wore colors that did not match.

Their clothes could easily be mistaken for disguises.

One man had the white clown paint on his face poorly removed.

Another one stayed in character from morning to night.

It was a troupe of misfits and extravagants.

Gathered to do the only profession that does not reject them.

The circus was brimming with life, whether there was a performance or not.

It had moved into the city six months prior.

Lug had never explored the city, so he never suspected its existence.

The day after his training with Xam, his leg had already recovered.

Massaging it to check for hidden pain, Lug felt that its muscles were hard, its skin was soft and firm.

He felt as if he had a limb in his hands that did not belong to him.

"Good thing I didn't put too much energy into it though." He thought as he shook it off.

A little disturbed by the feeling of being in the midst of a shift, but relieved that this change seemed positive.

He was getting ready to go to the circus

He had put on a black t-shirt with the logo of a rock band.

His coat, black pants that were not faded, and his usual shoes.

He had thought long and hard about what to wear.

As if the few clothes he had, left him with a choice.

He left his house and headed towards the shed to get his bike.

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But that's when he remembered the Wise One's instruction.

"You will go on foot, through the forest. Don't take the road until you get to town, and don't forget to put the coins in your pocket."

The coins, he had forgotten.

So he went to get them.

As he put them in his pocket, he asked himself:

"How am I supposed to keep them from making noise? Even when I make a little movement they start making a hell of a racket!"

It was a question he had already partially answered.

He knew that psychic energy could allow him to stop the coins from moving, so he just had to try.

But not now, he was running late.

He said goodbye to Gavan, got out and started walking.

It was around 9 o'clock.

And as the Wise One had asked, Lug began to walk in a straight line through the forest to the town.

It took him two hours to arrive.

Once in town, he began to look for the circus.

He had lowered his body density to avoid seeing and touching any ghosts.

The city was populated enough by the living as it was. Lug hated it.

He passed by the small alleys and avoided the big streets.

It had been a long time since he came to the city.

The noise of the cars, the lack of space, the people in a hurry.

Everything annoyed Lug.

As he passed a store window, he saw a poster with a clown face.

Lug stopped and began to read the poster.

"Circus Plazar...?" Lug thought.

The sign said that the circus was outside the city, at the end of the main avenue.

"Great, I'll have to go through my favorite place." said Lug wryly.

The avenue was so crowded that Lug had ro find a parallel street to go through.

He finally arrived around 11:30 in front of the circus.

There were no cars in the dirt parking lot, in front of it.

Yet he could hear echoes from inside the tent.

Lug wondered if there was a performance.

He was stressed, much more so than when he had been in the military camp.

He knew about ghosts, but the living were a different story.

Lug found them judgmental, unpredictable, hypocritical.

Only Hannah was the one he valued.

But he was here for his training, if the Wise One had asked him to join the circus, it was certainly for a good reason.

Lug walked towards the circus.

There was a small tent that served as an entrance, just before he could enter the main hall.

In this small tent, there was a plexiglass with wooden contours on the left side.

Red cords attached to small poles barred the way in front of him.

No one was at the wicket, and Lug could hear noises coming from inside the circus.

So he stepped over the cords and kept moving.

With each step, the noise of the coins sounded in rhythm with his heartbeat.

Four heartbeats for a metallic clink.

He was dragging his feet.

He wanted the corridor leading to the entrance of the main room to be endless.

That he would never reach his destination.

But alas, the shadow in which he was buried ended.

His feet touched the light that seeped between the thick curtains that separated the hallway and the main room.

He gently lifted the curtain, his eyes squinting at the light.

He looked up.

The room looked huge, after such a narrow hallway.

There was a central space in the shape of a circle, the floor was covered with small stones and sand.

Wooden panels separated the center from the surrounding bleachers.

There were two people talking.

A young brunette woman with a ponytail, wearing a purple acrobat outfit with sequins and white tights, and a man.

The latter was wearing a black tank top, he was tall and muscular.

He was blond, his hair was cut short on the side and long on top.

The man had his back turned, and the woman was facing him.

They were about twenty meters away.

Lug passed completely the curtain.

And waved to them.

"Hello!" That was the only word that came out of his mouth.

He saw them turn towards him.

Lug was livid.

He had known the violence of the ghosts of Primont, the pain of the reinforcement technique and the fights against Xam.

And despite that, the fear paralyzed him, there, for no other reason than his social anxiety.

He was disappointed in himself.

"I thought I had changed..." he thought.